Pointing a camera at an officer is likely to cause him to become aggressive. I've had this happen when there was no danger to anyone involved, and no one was doing anything wrong, and it was intimidating as hell.
In such a situation, you have to ask yourself: Do you know your precise rights? Are you willing to spend some time locked up and take your chances dealing with the law? Sadly, it's often up to the civilian to "de-escalate" the situation.
> Pointing a camera at an officer is likely to cause him to become aggressive.
Across dozens of encounters over the course of a decade, this has not been my experience whatsoever. I think that it also does not match the experience of the legal observer community ("green hats") who have filmed (or benefited from the filming of) thousands of police encounters in every major city in the USA over the past 20 years.
Instead, it has been my experience that turning on a camera causes a far more pacific and professional approach to emerge from officers and also empowers officers in a supervisory position to keep better control over their subordinates.
Interesting. I haven't had nearly as many encounters, but in my limited experience, pointing a camera at an officer is perceived as adversarial/hostile and increases tension. Sometimes it evidently leads to this:
